5 Countries Leading The World Of Digital Technologies

Have you ever wondered which countries enjoy the top positions when it comes to the next-generation of connectivity? The global community network, InterNations, has released a report on Digital Life Abroad that ranks countries based on the availability of government’s online services, the ease with which you can get a local mobile number, availability of high-speed Internet at home, cashless payments, and open access to the Internet.

Here’s the list of countries that
have been ranked among at the top-most position in each of the five categories.

Estonia – Overall Ranking – 1

Estonia was ranked number one in the
InterNations survey and enjoys the highest ranking in unrestricted internet
access and government services that are available online. Estonia has been
making heavy investments in digital infrastructure ever since 1991 when it
reclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The e-Estonia
program, which is backed up by the government, has introduced e-voting,
e-health, e-banking, and even e-residency. The e-residency service allows
non-residents to apply for a virtual residency to get entitlement to identity
card, banking services, payment processing, and even the ability to set up a
company.

Alexandra Nima, an Australian
entrepreneur who is residing in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, said, ‘It’s
seen as a basic human right here in Estonia to have access to the IInternet.
Even the remote Estonian islands, like beautiful Saaremaa, have internet
access. Here, everything from registering as a resident to opening a company
(online of course), is fast as can be.

Finland – Overall Ranking – 2

Finland has high scores in four
categories out of the total five and enjoys the second rank in digital life
overall according to InterNations survey. It enjoys the first rank in the
category of cashless payments. The government of Finland made it a legal right
for every citizen to have access to an Internet connection in 2010.

Resident and native Heikki Väänänen,
CEO and founder of customer feedback platform HappyOrNot, said, ‘High-speed
internet access combined with the freedom of speech makes our ecosystem more
sustainable and safer. Everyone has access to information, and it gives equal
opportunity to learn and impact on the future of the country.’ Peter Seenan,
the founder of the blog Finland My Home, said, ‘Digital life means automation,
like [automated] supermarket checkouts, and it also means online services in English,
which makes daily life easy to navigate without speaking or understanding
Finnish. These days there is so much information online in English in Finland,
from booking a doctor to learning about your rights as a worker. This has
changed dramatically from when I first came here as an exchange student in
2004.’

Israel – Overall Ranking – 3

Israel is ranked third in two
categories; unrestricted Internet access and ease of procuring a local mobile
number. Furthermore, Israel enjoys an innovative and strong technology center.
Residents of the country have quite happily the adopted the country’s nickname
‘Startup Nation’, and in fact, few citizens are truly away from the
communication and social apps.

InterNations ambassador Maria
Pinelis, said, ‘Even elderlies have smartphones and hang out on Facebook or
text on WhatsApp or video chat on Messenger. You can easily see here [a woman]
in her 70s messaging or video calling with her grandkids somewhere in the US.’

Rafael Hope, CEO and the co-founder
of the digital media business Amen V’Amen, said, ‘I personally work mostly from
home and coffee shops, which means I rely on public IInternet quite a lot. Many
coffee shops offer free public WiFi, plus the local ISPs here in Israel offer
public WiFi in many metropolitan areas for their customers to use for free.’

Canada – Overall Ranking 7

Canada has been scoring consistently good across most of the categories, especially in cashless payments and availability of government services online. Digital life is actually easier in larger cities, though. Canadian Eric Wychopen who blogs at Penguin and Pia, said, ‘Bigger centres like Toronto are more friendly to digital life. More [cash-free] payment methods, including mobile payments, are certainly trending
in smaller, newer shops.’

The connectivity is costlier as
opposed to other countries because of the fact that the telecommunication
industry is consolidated. Thomas Jankowski, chief digital and growth officer at
cryptocurrency trading platform Coinsquare, said, ‘Canada regularly tops a
number of lists for the most expensive internet access, while also featuring
some of the slowest’ high speed’ internet.’

Thomas further added, ‘Being able to start and operate a company online, handle banking, operations, bookkeeping, pay bills, renew documents all from one’s home, cafe, campground or even a tent [at least in campgrounds with WiFi coverage], can do wonders in terms of
improving unit cost economics of a business, and result in enormous time
savings.’

South Korea – Overall Ranking – 27

South Korea has been ranked number
one when it comes to the factor of availability of high-speed IInternet at
home. Seoul native, Choi Ye Eun, said, ‘Daily life in South Korea moves pretty
fast. From shopping for food and getting it delivered to paying for it can all
be done within almost five seconds.’ The country has also featured the highest
internet speeds in the world. Choi also said, ‘It is an amazing thing that we
are not bored on the train that we can watch YouTube and surf hashtags on
Instagram.’